Production of chewing gum and lateral blade cutter used for the production

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Industrial application fields of invention]

The present invention relates to a method for producing chewing gum suitable for relatively thick chewing gum and a horizontal blade cutting device used in the method.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

The conventional method for producing chewing gum generally comprises the following steps as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. First, the kneading step 1 in which the raw materials are put into a kneader (not shown) and kneaded, the dough K that has undergone this kneading step 1 is put into the extruder 2a and extruded, and the extruded dough K is predetermined by the rolling roll 3a. Rolling process 3 for rolling so as to have the plate-like thickness and width of the above, while transferring the rolled plate-like dough K1 by the conveyor A, the vertical blade 4a, which is a rotary blade, moves the rolled plate-shaped dough K1 in the vertical direction with a predetermined width. Vertical blade cutting step 4 that cuts into multiple long small pieces K2, and then transfers the cut small pieces K2 to the conveyor B that turns in the direction perpendicular to the direction and transfers them, and this time from above. A horizontal blade cutting step 6 that cuts laterally with the same rotary blade 6a, and a aging / cooling step 5 that cools the small piece dough K3 cut by this horizontal blade cutting step 6 while aging it over time. It consists of a packaging process 7 in which the small piece dough K3 that has undergone the aging / cooling process 5 is packaged into a product.

【0003】

The main parts of this conventional manufacturing process will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 14, the conveyor A and the conveyor B intersect at a right angle at the end of the conveyor A so that the dough K2 transferred to the end of the conveyor A can be transferred to the conveyor B and transferred. It has become. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the vertical blade 4a has a circular blade 4c provided on the rotating shaft 4b with a predetermined width, and a V valley pattern 4d formed in a ring shape between them as needed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the fabric K2 cut by the vertical blade 4a is a fabric that is vertically long and has a V valley pattern formed in the center along the longitudinal direction of the surface thereof. Then, this vertically long cloth K2 is transferred to the conveyor B at the same position and transferred, and this time, it is cut from above by a circular blade 6c provided on the rotating shaft 6b of the horizontal blade 6a with a predetermined width as shown in FIG. As a result, the small piece dough K3 shown in FIG. 8 is formed on the conveyor B, and the small piece dough K3 is collected in the storage box.

【0004】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, the plate-shaped dough K1 in a soft state that has just been kneaded, extruded, and rolled passes through the horizontal blade cutting step 6 immediately after passing through the vertical blade cutting step 4 while being transferred by the conveyor A. In addition, due to the pressure from above applied when cutting with the horizontal blade 6a, the shape of the cut small piece dough K3 does not become the size of the design planned size, and as shown in Fig. 15, the whole is rounded. It has a slightly flat shape. Then, since it is cured in this state in the aging / cooling step 5, the packaging in the next packaging step 7 is not performed neatly due to the difference in dimensions, and as a result, there is a problem that the commercial value of the product is lowered. In addition, since the small piece dough K3 is cut into small pieces in the horizontal blade cutting step 6, it is necessary to rearrange them in the same direction in order to continuously supply the small piece dough K3 in the packaging process 7 of the next process. There are problems of troublesome process and inefficiency.

【0005】

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the means thereof is to knead the raw materials, extrude and roll them to form a plate-shaped dough having a predetermined thickness, and then package the dough. In the method for producing a chewing gum to be produced as a product, the plate-shaped dough having a predetermined thickness is cut into long pieces, then aged and cooled to cure the dough to some extent, and then the long pieces are cut into pieces. It is molded by cutting into a plurality of small pieces having a predetermined shape in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and then packaged to obtain a product. Further, when the long pieces are cut into small pieces, the small pieces are connected continuously, leaving a small amount of the bottom surface of the long pieces. Further, the device that cuts the long pieces in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction in the method for producing chewing gum has a storage guide portion that accumulates the long pieces in the vertical direction, and a storage guide portion that accumulates the long pieces in the storage guide portion. A push plate that is extruded in order from the lower end, a horizontal blade that cuts the long pieces extruded by this push plate into multiple pieces at predetermined intervals, and a dough guide that guides the cut small pieces to the conveyor that transfers the dough to the next process. To have.

【0006】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following figures, but the same parts as those in the prior art will be designated by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, the method for producing chewing gum of the present invention comprises kneading step 1, extrusion step 2, rolling step 3, vertical blade cutting step 4, aging / cooling step 5, horizontal blade cutting step 6, and packaging step 7. It is manufactured through the process. The kneading step 1 to the vertical blade cutting step 4 are the same as the conventional steps, and the feature of the present invention is that the horizontal blade cutting step 6 and the aging / cooling step 5 in the prior art are exchanged in order to cut the vertical blade. The point is that the process 4 is manufactured in the order of the aging / cooling process 5 and the horizontal blade cutting process 6.

【0007】

The features of the present invention will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 2, as in the prior art, the vertical blade 4a in the vertical blade cutting step 4 cuts into a long piece K2. Then, at the end of the conveyor A, it is manually transferred onto the tray 8 and aged and cooled at room temperature for about 12 hours as it is. As a result, the dough of the long piece K2 is aged and hardened. After that, the long piece K2 is cut in parallel in the longitudinal direction by the horizontal blade 6a in the horizontal blade cutting device 61 used in the horizontal blade cutting step 6 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the sizes of a plurality of products are obtained. Obtain a small piece of dough K3.

【0008】

The horizontal blade cutting device 61 pushes out the accumulating guide portion 62, which stacks and accumulates the cured longitudinal small pieces K2 in the vertical direction, and the longitudinal small piece K2 accumulated at the lowermost end of the accumulating guide portion 62 to the opposite side. A dough that guides the push plate 63, the horizontal blade 6a provided on the opposite side of the push plate 63, and the long piece K2 cut to the next process, which is located below the horizontal blade 6a in the rotation direction, to the conveyor C. It is composed of a guide 64 and a base 65 for a long piece K2 provided above the push plate 63 as needed.

【0009】

The long piece K2 accumulated in the accumulation guide portion 62 is pushed out below the lateral blade 6a by the reciprocating push plate 63, and is cut into a plurality of pieces by the rotating lateral blade 6a. As shown in FIG. 10 in contrast to that of FIG. 15 of the prior art, the cut piece dough K3 has a cut portion that is not rounded as in the prior art and is angular in design. Maintain a shape that is very close to the dimensions. As shown in FIG. 6, the tip portion of the push plate 63 is formed with a cut groove 66 so as to meet the distance between the circular blades 6c of the horizontal blade 6a as shown in FIG. 7, thereby forming a long piece K2. Even when the horizontal blade 6a is pushed directly below, the circular blade 6c enters the inside of the cutting groove 66 so as not to come into contact with it. As the horizontal blade 6a, the same horizontal blade 6a as the conventional one shown in FIG. 7 can be used, but the long piece K2 is cut one by one extruded by the push plate 63, and the long piece K2 immediately after cutting is the long piece K2. As shown in FIG. 9, it is in a state of being divided into a plurality of small pieces of dough K3. If the horizontal blade 6a does not reach the bottom surface of the long piece K2 at the time of this cutting, the cut pieces of the cloth K3 will remain connected in the longitudinal direction, so that the cloth guide 64 will be separated even when it slides down. The work efficiency in the packaging process 7, which is the next process, is improved because the conveyor C is transferred to the conveyor C in a single row.

【0010】

The timing of pushing out the long piece K2 of the push plate 63 is controlled by a signal from a sensor (not shown) that detects that there is no piece cloth K3 divided and cut on the conveyor C below the cloth guide 64. ing. As a result, in the event that the work in the next process is delayed and the small piece dough K3 still remains on the conveyor C, the cutting work by the horizontal blade 6a can also be delayed.

【0011】

The small piece dough K3 cut by the horizontal blade 6a as described above is transferred to the packaging step 7 by the conveyor C with the bottom surface slightly connected. In this step 7, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a conventionally used turret 71 is used, and the supply device 72 that feeds the small piece dough K3 to the turret 71 is transferred by the conveyor C. The stopper 73 that stops the small piece cloth K3, the first pusher 74 that pushes out the piece cloth K3 that is locked while being urged toward the stopper 73 one by one in the perpendicular direction, and the extruded small piece cloth K3 are described above. The main configuration is a second pusher 75 that pushes into the turret 71 in the same transfer direction as the conveyor C. As a result, the small pieces of dough K3 are individually wrapped in the turret 71 and shipped as a product.

【0012】

[Effect of the invention]

As is clear from the above description, according to the method for producing chewing gum of the present invention, a long piece cut in the longitudinal direction after the vertical blade cutting step is subjected to a aging / cooling step and then to a horizontal blade cutting step. Since the transition is made, the long pieces are hardened at the time of entering the horizontal blade cutting process, and therefore, even when the horizontal blade cuts while being pressed from above, the shape is not lost. .. As a result, the small piece fabric cut in the horizontal blade cutting process has the dimensions as designed, and the packaging by the turret or the like in the packaging process is beautifully finished, and the product value is increased.

【0013】

Further, even when the long small pieces are supplied to the accumulation guide portion in the horizontal blade cutting step, since this is cured, the supply operation can be smoothly performed regardless of manual or automatic supply.

【0014】

Furthermore, when cutting into a plurality of small pieces of dough in this horizontal blade cutting process, if the bottom surface of the dough is left, it will be transferred to the conveyor that carries it to the packaging process as it is in a horizontal row, so that it will be supplied to the packaging process. The work of supplying the small piece of dough is simplified as compared with the conventional case, and the work efficiency can be significantly improved.

【0015】

Further, according to the horizontal blade cutting device, it is possible to efficiently cut the cured dough of the long pieces into small pieces.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

The manufacturing process diagram of this invention.

[Figure 2]

The manufacturing schematic diagram of this invention.

[Fig. 3]

Explanatory drawing of a vertical blade cutting apparatus (common to the prior art and the present invention).

[Fig. 4]

Perspective view of a long piece on a conveyor cut by a vertical blade (common to the prior art and the present invention).

[Fig. 5]

Schematic cross-sectional explanatory view of a horizontal blade cutting device.

[Fig. 6]

Schematic perspective view of the horizontal blade cutting device.

[Fig. 7]

Explanatory drawing of the horizontal blade.

[Fig. 8]

Perspective view of a piece of dough on a conveyor cut by a horizontal blade (previous technique).

[Fig. 9]

Perspective view of a long piece cut by a horizontal blade.

[Fig. 10]

A perspective view of a piece of fabric constituting a long piece cut by a horizontal blade.

[Fig. 11]

Schematic plan view of the supply device for the packaging process.

[Fig. 12]

Front view of FIG.

[Fig. 13]

Manufacturing process diagram of the prior art.

[Fig. 14]

Schematic diagram of manufacturing of the prior art.

[Fig. 15]

Perspective view of a small piece of fabric in the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Kneading process 2 Extruding process 3 Rolling process 4 Vertical blade cutting process 5 Aging / cooling process 6 Horizontal blade cutting process 7 Packaging process